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After The Crossfire - Pacquiao - Bradley

(L-R) Manny Pacquiao lands a left to the head of Timothy Bradley during their WBO welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Image courtesy Jeff Bottari, Getty Images

WBO welterweight boxing champion Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao was cruising comfortably to a victory over the game but over-matched challenger Timothy Bradley. Most experts – including the commentators – had the fight scored 11 rounds to 1 for Pacquiao.

Judges C.J. Ross and Duane Ford saw things differently.

Bradley emerged with the 115-113, 113-115, 115-113 split-decision victory and the title. Dignified in victory, he offered Pacquiao a November 10th rematch. Pacquiao was equally gracious, while stating he thought he had won, congratulated Bradley.

The stunning decision is the latest black eye for boxing and combat sports. Don’t think for a second that the long-term ramifications will not affect mixed martial arts.

MMA Crossfire – The hard-hitting blog that features expert commentary.

MMA Crossfire Expert Noel Clubb shares his thoughts:

MMA Crossfire Expert and professional boxing instructor Noel Clubb.

Noel Clubb is a professional boxing instructor who currently divides his time between Pound for Pound MMA and MMA World Academy, where he will be developing and building competitive amateur and professional boxers, (and developing local hero’s in the Greater Toronto Area).

PACQUIAO – BRADLEY

It’s another ‘black eye’ for boxing.

Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, right, connects with a punch against Timothy Bradley, from Palm Springs, Calif., in the third round of their WBO welterweight title fight Saturday, June 9, 2012, in Las Vegas.Photograph by: Julie Jacobson, AP Photo

It was a case of a good fighter against a great fighter and somehow the good fighter beat the great fighter based on the scoring of the judges, while boxing fans and spectators everywhere witnessed a disgusting display of poor scoring and decision-making on a big scale, while Pacquiao dominated essentially every single round with maybe the exception of one round which I believed it was the ninth or the tenth round where Pacquiao eased up on his devastating flurries, that allowed Bradley to throw more shots with very little impact on Pacquiao. In fact most of the punched that Bradley through, did not penetrate the defense of the Pac-Man.

(R-L) Timothy Bradley lands a right to the head of Manny Pacquiao during their WBO welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Photograph by: Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images

Shocking and disappointing indeed. Manny’s hand speed, quick combinations and those straight left hand blows scored every time he threw it through the first four to five rounds of the bout. Bradley could not answer or counter effectively. Whenever Manny hit Bradley, he moved Bradley while Bradley demonstrated very little to no power in his blows and had no impact whether he was initiating an attack or countering, there was no power. It was apparent Bradley’s skills are not at Pacquiao’s caliber. In fact Manny nearly knocked out Bradley in the fourth, fifth, sixth seventh and eighth rounds. The only reason why Manny would “ease up” on Bradley was to conserve his energy so he could attack sporadically later.

Timothy Bradley Jr. (L) of the U.S. exchanges blows with WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines during their title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada June 9, 2012.Photograph by: Steve Marcus, Reuters

HBO boxing commentator Harold Lederman raised a valid point before this contest started. Everyone was wondering where Pacquiao was for a good 40-plus minutes before getting gloved up. Letterman stated that there was only one scoring judge who was qualified for a match of this magnitude, while the other two were not just inexperienced but also had a tendency of being influenced by the crowds and company nearby at ringside. This simply reflects poorly on boxing especially in such a big match and in a time when boxing needs impartial judging and professionalism, rather than insulting and incompetent decisions like this.

(R-L) Manny Pacquiao prepares to throw a left to the head of Timothy Bradley during their WBO welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 9, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Image courtesy Kevork Djangsezian, Getty Images.

In short, the bottom line is we obviously have a rematch scheduled for Pacquiao and Bradley to make good on a decision that they should have gotten right the first time. Bradley did not deserve the belt last night, and a rematch will not make this wrong a right.